News & Features
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7/16/2010
America’s Promise Alliance has been named one of several featured charities by State Farm ® and Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the new Go To Bat program. State Farm and MLB unveiled the initiative and organizations it will benefit at the annual State Farm Home Run Derby July 12 in Anaheim, CA. The 10-week program will allow baseball fans and other individuals to raise money for select charities through their participation in an online home run derby game.
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7/16/2010
Two new reports released this week reveal boosts in federal spending on children during 2009 and 2010 were largely due to the stimulus legislation known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Without that additional one-time spending, the share of spending on children’s programs would have actually declined over the past five years. Children’s Budget 2010 is the latest edition of the Children’s Budget series by America's Promise Alliance policy affiliate, First Focus. Kids’ Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2009, an Urban Institute-Brookings Institution report, is the fourth annual examination of the federal spending trends and tax policies that support and affect children and families.
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7/16/2010
Lowering the high school dropout rate among students of color will greatly increase the nation’s economic vitality, according to a dramatic new study, The Economic Benefits of Reducing the Dropout Rate Among Students of Color in the Nation’s Forty-Five Largest Metropolitan Areas, recently released by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The Alliance for Excellent Education hosted a live webinar July 7 about the study.
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7/16/2010
For the first time in 43 years, the YMCA has unveiled a new brand strategy to increase understanding of the impact the nonprofit makes in communities. In another major change, the nonprofit will be called “the Y” to align with how people most commonly refer to the organization. The YMCA, a long-time partner of America's Promise Alliance, has the unique capacity to address many of the challenges facing the nation today. Through its new brand strategy and framework, the nonprofit will extend its reach into communities to nurture the potential of youth and teens, improve the nation’s health and well-being and provide opportunities to support neighbors.
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7/16/2010
Parent and community input and engagement will be a required step as school districts implement models to reform and improve low-performing schools, according to the Obama administration's plans for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). In remarks to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Kansas City, Mo., U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan credited members of the civil rights community for proposing the idea to strengthen community involvement and engagement in school reform during a series of meetings at the White House and the department.
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7/16/2010
Ready by 21 is a strategy that helps communities improve the odds that all youth will be ready for college, work and life. Ready by 21 meets leaders where there are, challenges them to think and work differently, and helps them progress further and faster to deliver results for youth. Ready by 21 was developed by national experts at the Forum for Youth Investment who have worked in youth policy for decades to help local communities prepare young people for adulthood. This webinar will guide participants through the essential components of Ready by 21 - the rationale behind Ready by 21, tools and services available to communities and leaders and the Ready by 21 National Partnership, an unprecedented coalition of organizations representing government, education, non-profit, business, research and philanthropy sectors.
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7/13/2010
On July 1st, the House of Representatives passed a supplemental war spending bill with a provision including $10 billion to avert teacher and school employee layoffs and $4.95 billion to adjust for a shortfall in the Pell Grant Program. Representative David R. Obey (D-WI), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, proposed paying for the effort, in part, with $500 million in cuts from Obama’s Race to the Top competition, $200 million in cuts from the Teacher Incentive Fund and $100 million in cuts from the Charter Schools Program. Dozens of charter school and other advocacy groups are lobbying against cuts to the Administration’s education programs. The Senate will consider the legislation in the coming weeks.
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7/9/2010
A new, highly detailed forecast shows that as the economy struggles to recover, and jobs slowly return, there will be a growing disconnect between the types of jobs employers need to fill and numbers of Americans who have the education and training to fill those jobs. The report, Help Wanted: Projecting Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees – and the report shows that we will fall short by three million workers without a dramatic change in course. This translates into a deficit of 300,000 college graduates every year between now and 2018.
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7/9/2010
As part of the Obama Administration's Open Government Initiative, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has launched Data.ed.gov, which will ultimately serve as a one-stop shop for education data and allow practitioners, researchers, and the public to access data that can inform their work in classrooms and communities across America. Data.ed.gov is a website developed by ED to share data about its grant programs and is part of the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative. ED will use data.ed.gov to publish data sets about its grant programs and performance and other data that it collects on an ongoing basis.
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7/9/2010
The Dallas Morning News’ glimpse into the plight of two new parents facing an unimaginable decision, KING 5 Television’s unraveling of a family’s two-year fight against a state’s error and WBEZ-FM/Chicago Public Radio’s comprehensive look at the dropout crisis are among the winners of the 2010 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism. The medals are presented by the Journalism Center on Children & Families and funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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7/9/2010
On June 24, America’s Promise Alliance, along with its partners, promoted the Grad Nation initiative in a full-page ad in USA Today. This effort was another step in the on-going awareness campaign to bring attention to the nation’s dropout crisis. Grad Nation is a national movement to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce. With leadership and focus, this is a solvable problem. We are thrilled to share that 203 partners signed on to the campaign and were featured in the ad along with major funders of the initiative.
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7/9/2010
Twenty-two state teams participated in Achieve’s convening on Supporting College-and Career-Ready Graduation Requirements on June 17-18. The agenda was designed to spark conversations that explore critical topics such as communications strategies, developing and sustaining community and district support, implementing math pathways pivoting off of the common core standards, and establishing higher education incentives and policies to support the new graduation requirements.
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7/2/2010
America’s Promise Alliance and the Simon Foundation for Education and Housing have announced a new multi-year partnership to help increase high school and college graduation rates. The two organizations will work together to expand the Simon Foundation’s successful Simon Scholars Program, a unique $30,000, 6-year high school and college scholarship program for students that come from difficult life and economic circumstances. The partnership—the first of its kind in the Alliance’s 13-year history—was announced at an event June 28 at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Washington, D.C. with Alliance Chair Alma Powell and Founding Chair Gen. Colin Powell, as well as the Simon Foundation’s Chair Ron Simon.
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7/2/2010
As part of its new multi-year partnership with the Simon Foundation for Education and Housing, America’s Promise Alliance will expand the Simon Foundation’s successful Simon Scholars Program, a unique $30,000, 6-year high school and college scholarship program for students that come from difficult life and economic circumstances. Simon Scholars is changing the odds for young people that show talent, leadership potential and a drive to succeed, in spite of their circumstances. Simon Scholars aren’t only prepared for success academically. They develop the social skills, communication skills, teamwork ability and personal confidence to be prepared for college, work and life.
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7/2/2010
Looking for a way to increase participation in your programs while connecting with a global youth service movement? Apply to be a Lead Agency for Global Youth Service Day – April 15-17, 2011.
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7/2/2010
Understanding that education is the cornerstone of communities, Target supports schools with giving programs, volunteering efforts and partnerships with educational organizations. For the first time, Target is taking this message directly to guests on Facebook through a partnership with Search Institute, offering weekly tips to help parents keep kids active and engaged while school’s out.
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6/28/2010
America’s Promise Alliance (the “Alliance”) and the Simon Foundation for Education and Housing (the “Simon Foundation”) today announced a new multi-year partnership to help increase high school and college graduation rates. The two organizations will work together to expand on a national basis the Simon Foundation’s successful Simon Scholars Program, a unique $30,000, 6-year high school and college scholarship program for students that come from difficult life and economic circumstances. The Alliance will work with the Simon Scholars program to broaden its reach into new cities, including a pilot Simon Scholar Candidate Program in Washington, D.C. at Cesar Chavez Parkside High School.
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6/25/2010
We’re excited to announce the members of the official 2010 100 Best Communities for Young People Selection Panel. The winning communities will be chosen by a prestigious group of national leaders in education and youth issues. The panel, led by Rhonda Mims, president of the ING Foundation and Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance, includes former elected officials, national nonprofit and business leaders, and prominent youth advocates.
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6/25/2010
Center for Student Opportunity (CSO), a national nonprofit based in Bethesda, Md., will release the 2011 College Access & Opportunity Guide in July. This unique college guidebook is designed to help first generation, low-income, and minority students make their college dreams a reality. Members of the Alliance network are eligible for a special pre-order discount through July 12.
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6/25/2010
The Department of Education's High School Graduation Initiative (HSGI) awards discretionary grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) to support the implementation of effective, sustainable, and coordinated dropout prevention and re-entry programs in high schools with annual dropout rates that exceed their state average annual dropout rate. Funds also may be used to support activities at middle schools that feed into high schools that have dropout rates that exceed the State average.
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6/25/2010
Just as sparks jumping from flint demonstrate their collective power to ignite a blaze, the newly-launched SparkAction.org distributes the tools and resources on a range of issues to help its online network take action and become a powerful voice for children, youth and their communities. SparkAction is managed by the Forum for Youth Investment, an America’s Promise Alliance partner and founder of the Ready by 21 initiative. The site is a merger of Connectforkids.org, the YouthPolicyActionCenter and the National Youth Development Information Center. SparkAction's team worked with a steering committee of more than 100 organizations across the country to develop the mission and brand and to design this site.
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6/25/2010
The Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards (HHYA) is an annual event that honors young Latino leaders who demonstrate success in the classroom and the community in an effort to encourage other young people to recognize education as a vehicle to achieve. HHYA celebrates its commitment to education by awarding grants for college and funding for a community service project, completely orchestrated by the student. All Hispanic high school juniors are invited to apply for up to $3,000 in scholarships and other benefits in one of twelve regions across the country.
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6/24/2010
WestEd held the California Mayors Graduation Summit April 29 as part of the national movement supported by America's Promise Alliance, AT&T and State Farm, along with the James Irvine Foundation. The summit was hosted by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson along with other mayors from across the state including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom; Stockton Mayor Anne Johnston, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox.